Computer systems are often installed in a rack and vertically or horizontally stacked together. Servers or blade computers, for example, can be stacked together in a rack and positioned in a cabinet or enclosure. In some instances, many racks are housed together in a data center which can include hundreds or thousands of servers and networked devices.
In order to manage large computer systems, an administrator is provided with a topology or mapping of the servers, blades, or other networked devices in the computer system. A topology map shows where each server or blade is located in the computer system. This topology, however, often changes as individual servers, blades, and other networked devices are added and removed from the computer system. The topology map needs to accurately and timely determine when such changes occur to the computer system. Otherwise, the administrator will not have an accurate mapping of the devices in the computer system